TV Talk

Thanks to a donation from the Class of 1954, we were able to make a few technology updates in the Mepham Library. Firstly, we were able to replace the 6 iPads from the iPad Reference Bar. Next, we purchased two 55" Samsung LED 4K televisions to hang in the library. These TVs will display a library slideshow and will also broadcast our morning announcements and other special installments from Bellmore-Merrick Broadcasting.

This project was set in motion before Covid-19 (in fact the televisions arrived on Friday, March 14, 2020 - our last day of in-person school for the rest of that year. Safe to say, it has taken a while to get this project off the ground! 

6 Second Summaries

Check out the Underlined YouTube channel "for everything you need to know about the best YA books, the coolest authors, and the latest trends." One of my favorite features is their 6 Second Summaries Video Series. This one below features Nic Stone author of the bestselling novel DEAR MARTIN. Watch as she races against the clock to summarize these popular books in 6 seconds (or less). Can you do this with some of your favorite books?

 

About the Book

This week we are featuring some hidden gems from Follett in an effort to "get students to read what they want - and how they want - to foster a lifelong love of reading." #AllBooksForAllKids

Follett's About the Book allows viewers to hear from authors about their background and inspiration behind some of their popular books. With over 17 videos there is something for everyone!

Author Takeovers

This week we are featuring some hidden gems from Follett in an effort to "get students to read what they want - and how they want - to foster a lifelong love of reading." #AllBooksForAllKids

Follett's Author Takeovers for Students "give students a chance to hear from popular authors about their books and writing process to inspire a generation of future readers and writers." There are currently seven videos in this series and most are approximately 30 minutes long.  

Behind the Book

This week we are featuring some hidden gems from Follett in an effort to "get students to read what they want - and how they want - to foster a lifelong love of reading." #AllBooksForAllKids

Do you love books and want to know more about them from the authors that write them? Follett's Behind the Book gives you that glimpse in short videos ranging in time from 3 minutes to 14 minutes. There are over 52 videos to take a look at. We linked the ones that are specific to young adult authors, but Follett also features elementary and middle-grade authors as well.  

First Chapter Fridays

Check out Follett's First Chapter Fridays! Looking for your next title, but don't know what to read? Over on Follett's First Chapter Fridays you can listen to authors read the first chapter of their books! Running time ranges from 4 minutes to over 30 minutes depending on the book title. All grade levels and interests are presented. Click here for titles specifically for high school students. 

Qball

We first saw Qball at ISTE 2019 and knew we had to have one for our students at Mepham High School. Qball is the fun throwable microphone ball that increases student engagement and ensures EVERY voice is heard! It was super easy to set up. It's squishy and soft, yet durable. We were concerned that you would hear a loud screeching noise when throwing the ball, but the Qball knows when to be quiet. It automatically mutes itself when being tossed and when it's idle. Take a look below at how it’s being used in Mrs. Tschan and Ms. Menachem US History class as they discuss the attack on Pearl Harbor. Since the introduction of the Qball in class, student engagement has gone up. Everyone wants a chance to use it. Student voice matters and we hear you!

Interactive Images with Thinglink

Students used their knowledge of photography to create Bento Box inspired images using symbols and imagery from their favorite books. The results are some of the most beautiful book recommendations you could ask for.

Mepham High School Library student-teacher, Mrs. Hirsch, devised a lesson plan to use with Mrs. Desmond's Photography 4 students using Thinglink in conjunction with their Book Bento Boxes. What is Thinglink? Thinglink allows you to add text, images, links, and video to any image using tags. Students uploaded an image of their Book Bento Boxes to Thinglink and then created tags for the book and each artifact. Once they had their image uploaded they could change the layout and icons for each of the tags. Each student was required to write a book summary and/or review. They also had to tag each artifact with an explanation for why they selected it and how it is important to the story. When they were finished creating these interactive tabs, they were able to download a QR code and import it (along with their original photo) to our Book Bento Gallery Slideshow. Here are a few examples of how they turned out!

Students had an opportunity in class to present their interactive images. We then printed out all of these slides and displayed them around the library. Students from all grade levels can now scan the QR codes with their phones and be transported to Thinglink to learn more about these wonderful books.

Interactive Book Bento Boxes are on display in the Mepham High School Library. It might just inspire you to pick up a copy!

Book Tweets

Mr. Acthziger's 9th-grade classes created book tweets this week with library student teacher, Mrs. Hirsch. A book tweet is a short book summary or review written in tweet form. Students used hashtags to emphasize key phrases that hint at the story, and were required to include the book title and author’s name. It was a challenge to create the tweet in 280 characters or less, but Mrs. Hirsch provided the students with some great tips listed below.

Instructions were given to students

Keep it short:

• Avoid long words or extra words.
• Avoid unnecessary qualifiers.
• Ex: “really”, “basically”, “very”
• Use “&” instead of “and”.
• Replace a phrase with a word.
  Ex: “In the event that” can be replaced with “if”
• Use social media common abbreviations
  Ex: SMH (Shake My Head), IRL (In Real Life)
• Combine words to create a hashtag.
  Ex: #familysecret, #bookswithaconscience

Example from student teacher

Here are a few of the student's final products. 

 

Book Bento Boxes

Mrs. Desmond's College Photography class consisting of 11th and 12th-grade students came to the library this week to learn about Book Bento Boxes. It was part history lesson, part culture appreciation lesson, part English lesson, and part photography lesson. The students taught by library student teacher, Mrs. Hirsch, learned what a bento box is - a Japanese term for a single-serve takeaway meal that is served in a box, traditionally lacquered wood with separate sections for different portions. Applying this structure to a literature response strategy results in book bento boxes. Students selected a book that they have read in the past year and got to work brainstorming what objects they would include in their boxes. The requirements were: 5-7 physical objects that hold meaning or represent something from the book (no photos of objects); the photo had to be square, and students could be as creative as they wanted.

Mrs. Desmind went over flat lay photography. She discussed lighting, background, props, composition (symmetrical vs asymmetrical). This year students worked with DSLR cameras instead of cell phones. The photos above show students putting their book bento boxes together to be photographed.

Stay tuned for the final projects coming soon!

Over 50,000 Minutes

Our databases get a lot of use. In fact, one database alone logged a total of over 50,000 minutes from Mepham High School users last year. Our databases can be accessed here at school and at home 24/7. To get to our databases, you go to the Mepham High School Library website and click on the database tab. Our databases are password-protected. Come to the library and see Mrs. Stack or Mrs. Gellerman for our database handout, which has our usernames and passwords on it. We subscribe to many different types of databases across the curriculum to provide our students and faculty with the most up-to-date reliable information. There are unique resources, such as a music and sound effect copyright-free library, which you can download and add to presentations. There are also animated videos with activities from BrainPOP, covering topics in Arts, English Language Arts, Health, Social Studies and STEM. 

New Year, New Power

Additional power station

With the new year and school in full swing, we needed more power stations to charge our devices. The Mepham High School Library is the proud owner of our second kwikboost charging station. Now we have a station on both sides of the library. We are always looking for suggestions to enhance our space with items that make your lives easier. If there is anything that you want, please let us know or drop a note in our suggestion box. 

Google Citations

We now have access to citations in Google Docs using your @bmchasd.org accounts. Open up a Google Doc and under the 'Tools' tab, click on 'Citations.'

Google Citations

Click here for instructions for inserting in-text citations and a bibliography into your Google Doc in MLA, APA, or Chicago (author-date) style. I am impressed with how easy these citations are to insert into your document. I suggest using this feature for books and websites. I am still on the fence for databases because most of the databases that we subscribe to already have the source citation in the correct format (MLA, APA, etc.) That just requires an easy copy and paste. However, if you want to use the in-text citation feature (which is awesome), then that requires the student to input the information into Google Citations. I suppose I'll let y'all play around with it for a few weeks and decide. 

Edpuzzle Coach Certification

Back when we started using Edpuzzle in 2017, we did not know how integral it would be to our instruction in 2020. Once we headed into quarantine back in March, teachers across the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District reached out and wanted to learn more. We did informal Zoom meetings to show them how to incorporate it into materials that they already had prepared, such as YouTube videos and Google Slide presentations (turned videos using Screencastify). At the end of last year the district purchased Pro accounts for all of our teachers. 

Then over the summer the Technology Integration Mentors had the opportunity to take professional development through Edpuzzle's online PD, which allows users to learn at their own pace and get officially certified. The certification helps mentors understand the pedagogical basis of Edpuzzle and how to support other teachers in our district. So back in July, I became certified as an Edpuzzle Coach and was able to provide our teachers with PD in August in anticipation on a hybrid start to the 2020-2021 school year. 

If you are interested in learning more, please reach out to any of the Technology Integration Mentors across the district. 

LibraryTrac

We have new procedures in place here when entering the Mepham High School Library. We are using LibraryTrac, it's an "application that allows libraries/media centers to keep track of their daily users and why those users are coming to use the library. The application allows librarians to designate reasons for using the library, as well as document what teacher students are coming from. It allows librarians to collect and analyze logged in user statistics."

When you enter the library, using the camera (or Snapchat) on your Smartphone, scan the QR code displayed at the circulation desk. A link will pop up at the top of your screen. Click the link and fill out the form with your first name and last name (you can leave teacher blank if you are visiting the library during a free period). If you are having trouble, please see either Ms. Stack, Ms. Gellerman, or the teacher on duty for assistance.

Students can also get an advance pass to the library by going to the Mepham High School Library website, and clicking on "Advance Pass to the Library." Students can then select the day (up to two days in advance) and period they plan to use the library. This is a nice feature because space is limited. Only 25 students are now permitted in the library during a period. This is temporary due to the global pandemic and our need to properly socially distance within the school building.

Coronavirus and Technology

Many technology education companies are offering their services at reduced rates or for free, as we navigate these unprecedented times of mass school closings. One such company, BrainPOP (which we currently subscribe to), has a video that does a wonderful job of explaining the Coronavirus to students. It is linked below. Students can access all BrainPOP resources by going to the Mepham High School Library Website and clicking on the Database tab. Once you land on this page, hit the "Click Here for Databases." The databases are listed in alphabetical order. Click on BrainPOP. These databases are password-protected. Refer to your username and password handout or stop by the library if you need an additional copy. You can always email Mrs. Stack at sstack@bmchsd.org with questions.

BrainPOP

BrainPOP Coronavirus Description

It can be scary to hear about a disease outbreak, but learning the facts can help ease your mind. A new coronavirus—a type of virus named for its crown-like shape—emerged in Wuhan, China in 2019, and then spread to people around the world. While the most severe cases often dominate the headlines, they’re not the whole story. Most coronavirus cases have been mild, and healthy bodies can fight off the infection on their own. Find out more about how viruses work, and the best ways to prevent them from infecting more people. Viruses can’t spread without our help, so click play to learn how not to help them!

Poetry & Short Story Reference Center

There are a few databases that have not look familiar to you at the Mepham High School Library. One of them is the Poetry & Short Story Reference Center. "A rich full-text database of hundreds of thousands of classic and contemporary poems, plus thousands of short stories, biographies, essays, lesson plans and learning guides. It also includes high-quality videos and audio recordings from the Academy of American Poets and other sources."

Content Includes:

• More than 370,000 full-text poems, both classic and contemporary
• More than 55,000 full-text short stories, both classic and contemporary
• More than 4,000 full-text dramatic works
• More than 2,600 audio recordings of poets reading their own works from the Academy of American Poets, poets reading works of other poets and podcasts from The Poetry Foundation
• High-quality videos provided by the Academy of American Poets and MacNeil/Lehrer Productions
• More than 440 full-text explications of both classic and contemporary poems
• More than 1,100 full-text e-books focused on poetry, drama and short stories
• Teaching and learning guides
• 180 lesson plans/labs from the Poetry Foundation
• Poetry Showcases from The Paris Review

JSTOR

We have a new database at the Mepham High School Library. It's JSTOR! "JSTOR provides access to more than 12 million academic journal articles, books, and primary sources in 75 disciplines." The database was purchased as a recommendation from the College Board for AP Capstone, but ALL STUDENTS here at Mepham have access to it. Please see Mrs. Stack in the library for the unique username and password.

Turnitin.com

Google Single Sign-On allows you to log into Turnitin using your Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District email address (username@bmchsd.org) and password. Click the “Sign in with Google” button on the Turnitin login page. You’ll be prompted to enter your Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District email address. Then you’ll be prompted to enter your Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District password. Yay! We love when third party companies offer this feature. We all have so many usernames and passwords to remember. This makes life a little easier. 

ISTE 2019: Philadelphia

Some of the Bellmore-Merrick Technology Integration Mentors headed to the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) in Philadelphia this summer. Here we are just testing out a green screen.

This conference allows us a chance to test out technology that we can then incorporate into our own classrooms and turn-key this information to the rest of the faculty in Bellmore-Merrick. We were able to make items using a laser cutter. We were also able to try some of the latest adaptive technology, such as a ball that doubles as a microphone. Some of us were even lucky to win a few desks that turn into a standing workstation. ISTE is a worthwhile learning extravaganza that helps us be on the cutting-edge of technology in education.